Early Silurian Wuchuan–Sihui–Shaoguan exhalative sedimentary pyrite belt, South China: constraints from zircon dating for K-bentonite of the giant Dajiangping deposit

The Wuchuan-Sihui-Shaoguan(WSS)exhalative sedimentary pyrite belt in the southwestern part of the Qinzhou-Hangzhou(Qin-Hang)belt is the most important sulfur industry base in China.However,a wide range of metallogenetic ages spanning from Ediacaran to Devonian has been reported in the literature.This age range does not support the idea that the typical character of"coeval mineralization"in an exhalative sedimentary mineralization belt in China and worldwide.Therefore,the precise determination of mineralization ages of representative deposits is necessary to provide guides for exploration and metallogenetic models.The Dajiangping pyrite deposit is a typical example of this kind of deposits and is also the largest deposit with a proven reserve of 210 Mt.This deposit was thought to have formed in Ediacaran or Devonian.In this study,2-3 layers of 10-25 cm thick 2M1-type microcrystalline muscovite slate abruptly embedded in the No.Ⅳmassive orebody of the deposit has been identified to be low-grade metamorphic K-bentonite.A Concordia zircon LA-ICP-MS U-Pb age of 432.5±1.3 Ma(mean standard weighted deviation of concordance and equivalence=1.2;N=11)has been yielded for the low-grade metamorphic K-bentonite.This age is distinctly different from the Rb-Sr isochron age of630.1±7.3 Ma for siliceous rock at the top of the No.Ⅲbanded orebody and the Re-Os isochron age of 389±62 Ma for pyrites from a laminated orebody.Instead,it is close to the intercept age(429 Ma)of the youngest detrital zircons from sandstone interlayers of the No.Ⅲbanded orebody.The Concordia age is also coincident with those of the Late Caledonian(400-460 Ma)magmatism-metamorphism events which are widely distributed in Cathaysia Block.Particularly,it agrees well with that of the Early Silurian extensional volcanism(434-444 Ma)which have been revealed in the Dabaoshan,Siqian-Hekou,and Nanjing volcanic basins in northern Guangdong Province and southern Jiangxi Province.Hence,the dating result in this study confirms that the sedimentary time of the ore-host Daganshan Formation is Early Silurian,and implies that the mineralization age of the Dajiangping pyrite deposit should also be Early Silurian.In combination with the Early Silurian age of Shezui pyrite deposit and the Dabaoshan volcanic basin along the WSS pyrite belt,it could be inferred that the WSS pyrite belt provides a record of the northern expanding of Qinzhou-Fangcheng trough in Early Silurian and that the exhalative pyrite mineralization was triggered by the postcollisional extension of the margin of Cathaysia Block after the intracontinental collision between Cathaysia Block and Yangtze Block during Late Caledonian stage.

Fossil Stomatocysts in Upper Cretaceous Sedimentary Pyrite from Central Mexico

In this paper six fossil forms of Chrysophycean stomatocysts are described. The material was collected from sedimentary pyrite embedded in well-laminated organic-rich limestone of the Upper Cretaceous Agua Nueva Formation at the locality of Xilitla, Central Mexico. The stomatocysts are represented by two spherical specimens with smooth surfaces lacking of ornamentation, three ovoid forms with rugose textures, one of them exposing presence of pore without collar, and one spherical specimen showing rugose texture and the presence of two short and rounded projections. The specimens here described showed affinity with some stomatocysts morphotypes described for brackish and fresh water, but not for known marine specimens. The presence of these microfossils in the Agua Nueva Formation represents the first formal description of fossil stomatocysts in Upper Cretaceous sedimentary pyrite in Mexico. The occurrence of both micro (planktonic foraminifera, calcispheres, radiolarians) and macrobiota (ammonites, inoceramid bivalves and fishes) and the presence of the specimens in sedimentary pyrite suggest that the stomatocysts were preserved under oxygen-deficiency conditions in a low energy environment. This event could have occurred in open marine waters in the Tampico-Misantla basin (Central Mexico) during the late Cenomanian throughout the early Turonian.